What’s more perfect than having a bowl of chili on a cold day while watching the football game? This is my healthy take on chili using ground turkey instead of beef and adding lots of veggies. I like to make a lot of this to have it on hand for dinners when I don’t feel like cooking. This can be done in a large slow cooker or in a stockpot on the stove if you want it done quicker. After trying many different chili recipes, I took bits and pieces from them and created my own.
With so many vegetables in this recipe, there are many nutritional benefits. Chili is loaded with beans which provides lots of protein and fiber as well as iron, potassium, B vitamins, magnesium, and folic acid. Peppers and tomatoes provide a significant amount of vitamin C to this recipe as well. By substituting ground turkey for the ground beef there is less saturated fat. The biggest downfall of this recipe is the sodium. Since I am using canned beans and canned tomatoes, the brine causes the high sodium content. Alternatively you can make this lower in sodium by choosing no salt added canned beans, fresh tomatoes, and reducing the added salt. That’s the beauty of making your own soups and stews. You can control the amount of fat and sodium unlike the pre-made store bought kind. You can freeze the leftovers in a sealed plastic container for several months.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground turkey (I used 85/15)
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped or minced
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped or minced
- 1 yellow or orange bell pepper, chopped or minced
- 1 large onion, chopped or minced
- 1 head of garlic, minced
- 6 stalks of celery, chopped or minced
- 16 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
- 1/2 cup chili powder
- 1/8 cup salt and pepper each
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (more if you like it a bit spicy)
- 2 – 14 oz cans of diced tomatoes
- 2 – 14 oz cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 – 14 oz cans of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 – 14 oz can of pinto beans, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips (dark chocolate works best)
While chopping vegetables to your liking, heat a 8-quart slow cooker (on low) or large stockpot on the stove on low-medium heat. Look at all the pretty colors!! 🙂
Place ground turkey and all vegetables into pot and stir. Add in chili powder, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Give it one last good stir and put the lid on.
Cook on low for 5-6 hours (or on high for 2-3 hours) until veggies are soft and meat is brown. If it doesn’t look like there will be enough room in the stockpot/slow cooker, don’t worry, the vegetables and meat will cook down to fit the rest of it in. Once timer is up, add tomatoes, beans, and chocolate chips. Give it a stir and continue to cook for about 30 minutes covered.
These directions are best for the weekend or when you have most of your day to prepare everything.
As an option for cooking during the week, prepare the vegetables (except mushrooms) the night before. Before leaving for work, slice the mushrooms and set the slow cooker to low. Place the turkey, vegetables, mushrooms, and seasonings in the cooker and stir. Set timer for 5-6 hours on low. Once you get home, the slow cooker should be at the “keep warm” setting if you were gone for longer than the 5-6 hours. Reset the slow cooker back to low and add the tomatoes, beans, and chocolate chips. Stir well and cook for an additional 20-30 minutes.
One thing I would probably change in this recipe is getting a small can of adobo peppers and omitting the cayenne pepper. I honestly forget each time to pick it up at the store and my dear husband reminds me each time I make this chili. 🙂 When we added the adobo peppers, it added a nice spicy and smoky flavor to the chili. Cut each pepper up and add them to the chili, sauce and all.
Stay warm out there!
Yields 14 servings, 1 cup per serving (I used a liquid measuring cup).
Nutrition Facts: 368 calories 12 g total fat 1541 mg sodium 44 g total carbohydrates 10 g sugar 13 g fiber 23 g protein